Prince Carl Philip opens the Royal Palace Sprint

Motiv: Prince Carl Philip at the opening of the event. Photo: royalcourt.se

On Wednesday 20 March, the tenth Royal Palace Sprint was held.

In his opening speech, Prince Carl Philip said:

"No one can have failed to have noticed the positive trend within Swedish cross country skiing. I'm thinking not only of the fantastic Swedish medal haul at the World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme, but also just as much of all the many skiers you meet on the ski tracks. This is particularly true in Stockholm. And as you've no doubt read, the 2014 Vasaloppet race was fully subscribed in just ten minutes! Here in the presence of the world elite, we now look forward to a top-flight battle in the heart of Gamla Stan. My family and I are delighted and proud that this unique competition takes place around the Royal Palace of Stockholm, and we think this is an extremely important event."

The King presented prizes to Norway's Petter Northug, winner of the men's class, and Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk, winner of the ladies' class. The Royal Palace Sprint is a ski word cup competition that takes place around the Royal Palace of Stockholm. This year marked the tenth time the sprint has been run since the first event in 2000. The competition, together with the Swedish Ski Games in Falun, is part of the FIS World Cup Final for the 2012-13 season.